Wally visits Carl’s church and has lots of questions about the experience at his mega-multi-site church. Wally has a lot of questions of what is going on. These are some of those conversations.
Carl and Wally – Wally visits Carl’s church
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Tag Archives: Church Worship
Get on the Church bus, or get run over.
Too many progressive and seeker friendly churches put the emphasis on the wrong things. All the while running over people who Christ called us to love. As you will see below, if you don’t fit the mission, look out! The church bus is coming for you.
Caveat First
To my reader who may not know Christ as your personal savior. My hope is that in reading the following post, you’ll know what to look for in a church fellowship. As Christ followers, we are called to love you. You won’t find perfect people, but you can find a Christ fellowship that shows Christ’s love to each other. And that love starts with a true understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So look for the Gospel being presented, open your Bible and trust Christ to be your savior. But beware, there are places that call themselves churches that do not show the love of Christ. They may have a good show, but don’t preach the forgiveness of sins which is the starting point for understanding the Love of Christ. Instead, they concentrate on dopamine experiences entertaining and pleasing the flesh. This blog post will hopefully provide you with tips on finding a good church family and staying away from the destructive ones.
In the end when our lives are done, we will know that humans will always fail us. But with our faith in Jesus, the real Jesus, you have hope for now and eternity. Trust Christ.
And to my reader who knows Christ, the Bible is clear. We are to love God and love others. We are to make disciples. That is it. However, the challenge today is many churches mega or small are not fulfilling the law of God. Nor are they making disciples instead they are making minions or cult followers maybe; but not Christian Disciples.
Romans16:17 Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
The Catalyst – Ready? Ok, here we goooooooooo……
“There is a pile of dead bodies behind the Mars Hill Bus and by God’s Grace it’ll be a mountain by the time we’re done. You either get on the bus or you get run over by the bus. Those are the options. But the bus ain’t gonna stop.” – Pastor Mark Driscoll” A statement he made to a conference room full of pastors.
Being raised a preacher’s kid, I have witnessed all kinds of disgusting behavior in the name of God. The above statement is one of those most vile I have heard. Mark Driscoll pastored over 14,000 people in 5 states, and this was his approach to representing Christ? A former megachurch star, Mark Driscoll left the church he co-founded after allegations he plagiarized his books and bullied people who worked for him. You can learn more from the podcast, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. If only this was an isolated incident. But it is not. Many mega church pastors like Mark take on a cult like image; church vision and culture is god because it increase numbers. And anything goes to get people in the seats, make them happy, and have them give money. Cynical? Yes. True? Absolutely.
At the root of Driscoll’s and other mega, and mega wannabe pastors’ methodology is something called Vision Casting. Vision Casting churches have what some consider a cult like structure. I would call it corporate methodologies. As you hear from Driscoll in the video above, people were to do as he said or get thrown off the bus and run over. It is eerily similar to a corporation. You have someone at the top, the CEO for example, he or she casts the vision for the corporation. It is expected that everyone will sign on with that vision, and those who do not serve the vision will find themselves moved out of their positions or fired right out. Either way, it is the corporation’s way or the highway. People are what they are, subjective employees.
With the rise of seeker-friendly and progressive churches, one thing many have in common is a move away from teaching Biblical doctrine. Instead, they are centered around an experience at church, and the cult like vision casting leader who is responsible for growing the church. And how is that done? By providing what people want to experience. Consider Mega Church Pastor Joel Osteen, he would make a good motivational speaker, but his sermons lack significant contextual Biblical foundation. Sin is called mistakes, and God’s power is replaced with a narcissistic doctrine such as the ‘little god’s’ doctrine. Many churches have found out that if you feed people’s narcissism and call it Christianity, that will fill the seats for sure. This method produces many mega churches that are often centered around the vision caster. I recently read an article about Ron Carpenter leaving his church. The article described many of his congregants as ‘spiritual orphans.’ I call that the Cult of Church Worship
Church vision casting, or the idea that God gives each local church their own vision has no foundation in the Bible and is grandiose narcissism. Jesus gave us one ‘vision’ if you will, one command that applies to all local churches;
Or this example from Steven Fertick’s church Elevation. Such a nice cartoon to indoctrinate children to follow a man.
Matthew 28:16-2016 But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17 And when they saw him, they [a]worshipped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: 20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you [b]always, even unto [c]the end of the world.
There can be only one goal of the church. That’s it, that is the only ‘vision’ or direction that each Christian church has. To say a local church as a specific vision that another church doesn’t implies that God has spoken to that church something contrary to what Jesus said in Matthew 28.
If ‘Vision Casters’ like Mark Driscoll and others were honest, they would just say what they really mean, ‘this is how I’m going to run the church, all of you work for me paid or free, and I’m going to do what I want, and if you don’t like it, hit the road.’ But it is much more manipulative to say ‘I have a vision for the church that God gave me.’ That implies a direct revelation from God, for a specific group of people. Something that is not supported in scripture.
Jesus being a micro pastor.
Matthew 20: 24When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25But Jesus called them aside and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them.26It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,27and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave— 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
So why do many modern churches not love? Just a theory.
Number 1: In today’s self indulgent culture, we are in it for ourselves. So why would we listen to a church leader who talked about serving, and actually showed us what serving is? Well, because we don’t want to serve ourselves. We’d much rather go to church, get what we can out of it, and feel better about ourselves. Jesus tells us in Matthew 20 that he himself came to serve. This is what we as laity (regular folk) and church leaders should exemplify. In other words, the laity is not the servants and the church leadership the masters. We are to serve each other. But that requires us to be aware of our sinful flesh. We are no good people at birth. Even Jesus said that only his Father is good.
Number 2: This is related to number 1, but we like our idols. We want to believe in someone tangible. Someone who feeds our narcissism. That’s what you see from Mark Driscoll, for him to be so abusive and have such a large following, he was feeding people what they want and was in ministry much longer than he should have been. But as you see with Mark, when the gods people hold onto fall, there is devastating damage. I’m so glad I don’t put any faith in any human. They are imperfect just like me. They are sinners like me. And one day they will die like me.
Number 3. And the final reason church people don’t love is, they have a false sense of who Christ is. They believe the fairy tails learned growing up and don’t understand that Jesus came with one purpose, to save those who believe, this was his Father’s will. Luke 22:42. Even Jesus did his Father’s will. If we would read our bible, we would see that Christ came to serve, and tells us to do the same. I once heard someone say, ‘church is not about you.’ While I see what they are trying to say, I would disagree. Church is about you loving God and others. Saying it’s not about you does nothing but insult people. Words matter.
Love as Jesus explains it: In Luke 10, Jesus tells the story of the Samaritan helping the man in the ditch who was robbed and beaten. A man asked Jesus what it took to inherit eternal life? “27 He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’c and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’d” I think we have that love of self perfect eh?
There is so much we could exposit from this story, but one key point is Jesus said ‘Go and do likewise.’ Go and do what? Help those in need.
Close your eyes! Wait. Then you can’t read.
Matthew 7: 15Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20So then, by their fruit you will recognize them.
My mom told me that we are fruit inspectors. So in church, it’s pretty easy. Those who do not love, choose to rule, dominate, and disregard the sheep as merely bodies instead of serving and protecting the sheep, they are wolves. Strong? Yep. So about that fruit.
Galations 5:
16So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; 20idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another.
-But we can’t know the fruit of the Spirit if we are not -producing- it ourselves. If we are selfish, if we misuse people, and are led by our flesh, we are on the wrong side of Jesus. –
God’s Warning
Jeremiah 23:1“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.
2Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD.
3Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will raise up shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or dismayed, nor will any go missing, declares the LORD.
For those like Mark Driscoll, save he repent of his sins, God’s judgement will be upon him. And to the same extent, those in our local churches who sow for greed, how cause the church to scater instead of ‘feeding’ the sheep, this judgement is theirs as well.
Body Parts
My friend reminded me the other day that as Evangelicals, we love 1 Corinthians 12 but will skip right over most of it to talk about what we get out of it; Vs. 27, “First are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers and so on.” But in my lifetime of going to church, I can not remember hearing a message about what comes before in verses 12 – 24.
One Body with Many Parts
12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24 while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
Unity in church? This is what it takes, it’s not a competition, it’s not a slave master relationship , it’s not about manmade vision where we are all worker bees with jobs in the church fellowship. It’s about exactly what is described in 1 Corinthians 12, – All – are important to God. None are more unimportant. We are all sinners, we all serve the same God (well most of us do). We should never do like Mark Driscoll, pick and choose who sits on the bus. It’s God’s bus if you will. We have no right nor should we look at other folk in church as just bodies to be used. That’s what Mark did.
The Church at Ephesus: Lost Love
Revelation 2:1–29
English Standard VersionTo the Church in Ephesus
2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of ehim who holds the seven stars in his right hand, fwho walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 g“ ‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but hhave tested those iwho call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up jfor my name’s sake, and you khave not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned lthe love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do mthe works you did at first. If not, nI will come to you and remove your lamp-stand from its place, unless you repent
When Paul visited the church in Ephesus, he spent time teaching Christ, love for each other and warning the Ephesians to beware of false teachers, idolatry which Ephesus had plenty. So why does Revelation 2:2-5 criticize the church at Ephesus? This church while working hard to preserve doctrine had lost their love for one another. Throughout Paul’s teaching, he continues what Jesus taught us, and that was to love other. If we are to love our enemies and pray for them. Matthew 5: 43-48
Alternative analogy: The Goats
There seems to be a theme eh? One of my favorite songs from Christian Singer Song writer Keith Green is “the Sheep and the Goats”
He said it best. There isn’t a way for me to improve on it.
The Wrap.
The story of Mark Driscoll is sadly being repeated over and over again in churches today. Church folk are looked at as employees, things to be used for vision caster’s purpose. I’ve seen it over and over.
I personally struggle to understand why God would add folks to an unloving church. God is God and he can do what he wants. Psalm 115:3 But hopefully the wolves show us how much more we need to love each other, support each other, and do as God; count the weakest as the most necessary. Hopefully we recognize that we are to serve, to love, not to be served. Just as Christ did.
A final thought on 1 Corinthians
So if we continue on in Corinthians, we come to the passage more people are familiar with;
1 Corinthians 13:1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, a but have not love, I gain nothing.
Or to put it in todays vernacular
If I go to church and don’t have love, I’m a seat warmer.
If I am positioned to shepherd over people in church and don’t have love, I’m just a boss.
If my church serves coffee, but doesn’t have love, then it’s a Starbucks knock off.
If we have great programs at church, but don’t have love, then we are just a Moose Lodge.
And if we have the best entertainment with all the fog, silly light shows, and best music and have not Love, then we really should pay 10 bucks at the door and expect popcorn.
About the author: Steven Davis is a overcooked preacher’s kid, musician, former social worker and media producer.
References:
The Bible
God does nothing reckless – Never has, never will
Is God’s Love Reckless?
Having grown up playing music in church from bluegrass to Third Day covers, I’ve always loved worship music in church. I’ve played with and have heard various talents as well. Worship in church became such a important part of the move of God over the past decades. Many churches have included modern worship in addition to hymns, and some have gone full into songs written by modern artists from a variety of sources.
One such song became super popular written by Cory Asbury. It was a song entitled, ‘Reckless Love.’ It was wildly popular. When I heard it the first thing I thought about was the word ‘reckless.’ In Cory Asbury’s explanation of his word use, he mentions that he is not saying that God is reckless, but God’s love is.
The words from the song are:
“O, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
O, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, you give yourself away
O, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah”
Responding to the controversial lyrics, Cory Asbury explains on his Facebook page like this.
“When I use the phrase, “the reckless love of God”, I’m not saying that God Himself is reckless. I am, however, saying that the way He loves, is in many regards, quite so.” Cory Asbury explains.
So we are to believe that God’s love is like the broken glass above. It just happens at random from an act of God? So God who created the heaven’s and earth with such precision, flings His love out there like a hand grenade?
The song actually created a controversy in Christian circles, some defending the song, and some against it.
“Hey Steven,
Thank you for your email. Jennifer works really hard to tie each song into the theme of worship for the day. I hear your concerns but for us this song really worked well with our service. As for the word reckless, one of the definitions is to move forward without regard to consequences. For Jennifer and I we felt that described Jesus perfectly when he faced the religious leaders of his day and political leaders of his day and did not care about the consequences. I hear your concerns and we will speak about this with Jennifer.
Pastor John”
This is an response I received from the campus pastor who I wrote asking questions about the song’s use in worship. (with names changed of course.) I was really surprised to hear the song since the head pastor speaks strictly from the Word. Standing during worship, I could only think of the flawed theology from the song.
So when I kept hearing the song still played in church, I really was challenged to find it theologically correct. I kept thinking, nothing about scripture describes anything about God as reckless. In fact, the Bible describes God as someone of order, someone who doesn’t do anything recklessly. So why defend the idea that God is ‘reckless?’
When I Googled “define: reckless” ,I couldn’t quite find the definition my campus pastor found, but found this specific definition of reckless, Merriam Webster’s defines it as:
Reckless 1: marked by lack of proper caution : careless of consequences
As human beings we were given language by God. Language is one way God speaks to us and we speak to each other. We as Americans stop at stop signs and go on green lights. We say, “hello” and typically that means, “Hi.” A greeting. We have words and symbols that are etched in our social discourse. And those are generally set. And yes, I’m sure there are those who say hello, and mean goodbye. With our culture, anything is probable.
When I hear the word reckless, I instantly think of reckless drivers. I think of something done in malice. Reckless homicide is another. Both of which are defined by an act that is out of control and ignores risk. God is very far from my mind when I hear the word reckless. It really is a simple word to act association.
So what do we do with the defense that God’s love can appear reckless to us. We have to put the conversation or order of understanding in the correct position. If God’s love to us truly appears ‘reckless’, then it is our lack of understanding and comprehension of God’s love that is at issue, not God’s Love. To put it plainly, the deficiency or failure of human beings is what may, for some, make God’s love appear reckless. So to fix the song, we would say that God’s love appears reckless to us because we do not understand the ways of God. But that doesn’t roll off the tongue.
Isaiah 55:8-9 Common English Bible (CEB)
8 My plans aren’t your plans,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
9 Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my plans than your plans.Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 New Century Version (NCV)
16 I tried to understand all that happens on earth. I saw how busy people are, working day and night and hardly ever sleeping. 17 I also saw all that God has done. Nobody can understand what God does here on earth. No matter how hard people try to understand it, they cannot. Even if wise people say they understand, they cannot; no one can really understand it.
So what are we to say to the defense of God’s Love appearing as reckless. It may appear reckless to some people, but it’s not because God’s love is reckless, but it is because of our inability to understand the ways of God. That is our weakness not a descriptive blueprint of God’s Love that we can point to.
So why continue playing the song? Why not change the words? Why be more comfortable with the lack of scriptural basis for the description? I have no idea. Do people still use the song because it’s popular? Maybe. The email response I got from reaching out to my campus pastor left me thinking that the campus pastor and worship pastor knew better than I did, especially since there was a definition of the word reckless that fit what they were thinking. My only response to that is, we shouldn’t live according to the dictionary, but God’s Word.
Ephesians 1:3-6 Common English Bible (CEB)
Bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing that comes from heaven. 4 God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless in God’s presence before the creation of the world. 5 God destined us to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ because of his love. This was according to his goodwill and plan 6 and to honor his glorious grace that he has given to us freely through the Son whom he loves.
So can we say God’s love is reckless? No we can’t, there is no scriptural basis for the description. Can we say God’s Love appears reckless to some, maybe, but it’s not because His love is in fact – reckless. It is our weakness and lack of understanding.
Final thoughts:
Some questions to ask are:
Are we so ignorant that we just don’t know better? I would venture that it is not this reason since there were many modern authorities that had concerns about the use of the word ‘reckless.’
Do we worship the song? Because we know in church, there is pastor worship. Is this a case of song worship?
Are there songs like this that are flawed theologically? Should we screen songs through the filter of scripture?
Are we so arrogant that we think we can define the attributes of God better than His written word can? In other words, can we use words to describe attributes of God that we can’t support in scripture?
So why live with the division this song has caused and continues to cause?
We are flawed individuals, the church has had a myriad of controversies over the years. Why would a Christian leader add to those pains? Why not choose the Christian Body and change the words? I have no idea.
About the author: Steven Davis is a musician, Bible school dropout, media producer, well-done preachers kid, and recovering social worker.
References:
Divided worship services at church: How multiple church services hurt your church
How multiple church services hurt your church
I grew up going to one church service on Sunday morning, one on Sunday night, and one on Wednesday. When someone got married in the church, everyone was invited to the wedding. And singing Bible songs in Children’s Church. We were one big family. Everyone knew everyone else, except for visitors, so we would have Family day at the park.
Today, many churches strive to grow larger and larger. To accommodate space requirements, churches will often divide their worship services into an early service, later service, even off-site services.
The Catalyst
Each time I drive by a church and see the words, ‘Traditional Service and Contemporary services’ I often wonder why. I wonder what the-traditional people think of the-contemporary people?
We went to a church that had three services. The first Traditional Service was at 8:00 a.m. , then a Contemporary service was at 9:30 a.m. then another Traditional Service at 11:00 a.m. So the pastor would dress up for the first service, dress down for the second, and then dress back up for the third. Tie on, tie off, tie back on. So the shifts were traditional-contemporary-traditional. They also had two other church meetings that ported in the pastor’s live message at the contemporary service. So five total services on one Sunday from one pastor and ‘main church.’ Whew. I’m tired.
There are reasons churches do multiple services, here are two;
- There are just too man people for their building.
- Pick a good growth plan, and grow grow grow. It’s what church growth is all about. You plant a church, do demographic studies and cater your church to that demographic so you grow it as big as you can. So at some point, you have too many people for the main service location. The dilemma is too many people, so to keep growing, a second worship service is a way to go. Or is it?
- It is strictly a cultural concern.
- You have a thousand folks in your church. And half of them don’t like loud music, they like hymnals instead. This generation can’t really connect with the worship service direction, so you have to do something to please the unhappy folk. Or do you?
- So what to do, you split the congregation by offering both traditional services and contemporary services. That makes everyone happy right? But should our happiness drive church decisions? Unfortunately, it does too often. Otherwise, we take their marbles and go to a different sandbox, right? Sounds a lot like a consumer mentality doesn’t it?
What is lost with multiple worship services;
1. Support:
When we segregate a church meeting, we put up barriers to opportunities for support. As a church family, we are to be there for each other. But how are we to support someone if we never meet them? While somewhat silly, an example goes like this. Ms. Smith goes to the early service, but Ms. Jones goes to the later service. Ms. Smith is going through a horrible life experience and it just happens to be what Ms. Jones went through last year. If they never meet, there’s no opportunity for Ms. Jones to support Ms. Smith.
And of course, God can bring them together. But if the church meeting structure is such that they are kept from each other, then how will they meet? Some would say community or small groups are the way. Regarding Small or Community Groups;
Small Group Story: My wife and I sat in our home as a fellow church goer lamented to us about an experience with the small groups at church we all attended. She went to a community group and felt like a fish out of water. As she continued to describe the small group demographics, she realized she was twenty or so senior to most people at the group. She then mentioned at some point it was suggested to her that a different community group might fit her better. One that fit her age. She was still upset about it when she talked to us. It was sad to hear how hurt she was, a sense of rejection from a part of church that is supposed to be supportive.
2. Mentoring:
As people age, their physical, financial, and emotional challenges increase with the loss of spouses, income, and family members. When Jesus helped those in need, they were the marginalized of society. When churches segregate one generation from another, people lose an opportunity to sit under the same roof with those who may have dealt with the same issues we deal with as younger folk. In other words, each segregated generation worships in a vacuum, and younger church folk never learn from those older church members.
The church should celebrate those church members who have advanced their faith as much as they have in age. In other words, we should learn from those who have gone before us. Instead, with today’s post-post modern church, the goals are numeric growth and structural segregation based on demographics. In other words, we put these people here because they are all ‘this.’
Instead, should we not have one family that can learn from each other, young and old?
What is Gained from Multiple Worship Services
1. Leadership Weighted Identity:
A church should never take on the identity of its leadership. The identity of a church meeting should resemble Christ. So how is a church meeting with three different demographic or numeric services to resemble Christ? Pastor worship is a real phenomenon in church. Most churches that have multiple services handle the main message a couple of ways. When we went to the traditional-contemporary-traditional church, there were actually two other church meeting branches that watched the live video feed of the pastor’s message during the ‘contemporary’ service. Which meant, the worship of the other two church meeting branches had to time the end of worship so they could see the live feed of the ‘main message.’ Worship had to end on this particular time so the live feed of the Pastor’s message could stay on schedule.
The Defense of multiple worship services:
- Our church does so much in the community because of the number of people that go there. It is unquestionable that churches with more resources have a larger reach. Is there inherently anything wrong with a large church service because of numbers, probably not. Does a church get so large that people feel like a number? Yes. Does a church get so large that the church takes on the personality of the leadership because they are the key figures in the church meeting? Yes.
- We have many programs that get people programmed into our church. ‘We have this group, that meeting, that ministry and so on.’ ‘And that’s how we make our large church smaller.’ But is this a method that resembles a business? Using a massive volunteer base to supplement a large infrastructure with only the leadership being paid salaries is odd logic and akin to a corporate methodology to maintain the multiple of processes.
What to think about.
When Jesus ministered on Earth, crowds followed him from town to town. What we don’t find in his ministry is the segregation of ‘the flock’ by age or any other demographic for that matter. Jesus and His message was for everyone. He fashioned His message to reach the masses. He didn’t have hymnals for this service and loud contemporary music at another.
So what should our churches look like? What is the solution to overcrowding? Should our message thereby church service be relevant and designed for everyone? That is what Jesus showed us. Are our multiple services done to grow numbers? Do we grow numbers while sacrificing what a church meeting or service should be about? Are we a number in a crowd when we attend large churches? Is the pastor so far removed from the flock that he is unreachable? Is the church so large that the biggest personality, is the pastor?
Should multiple services be based on demographics? I would offer that it is one of the most damaging choices a church can make. Quintessentially it creates two churches, one full of this demographic, and one of this other one. The traditional-contemporary-traditional church we went to was like that. Sometimes we overslept and went to the later traditional church. Other than a few leaders such as the pastor and associate pastor, everyone was different, they had a choir, organist, and completely different order of service. And yes church pews. And yet, they were only down the hall from the location for the ‘middle contemporary’ service.
What should a church meeting do when they grow so much there’s no room? Good question. If the solution is multiple services, then how is church support, mentoring and identity addressed? Does it not make more sense to take a branch of the church to maintain support and mentoring across the church meeting’s demographic? Our church meetings should be for the masses.
Overcrowding is a good thing. What we do with it, is the question. Of course, it’s cheaper to have multiple services than build a gigantic building or establish another church. But maybe it’s more the case that we need smaller churches than a gigantic one shuffling people in and out on a set schedule. Maybe we should return to the focus of the Acts church, and that’s supporting each other.
And we should never be so arrogant in church work that we don’t question our methods. We are, after all, imperfect people, therefore our actions are bound to be less than pristine. So we should be open about our imperfections, and humble about changing course with humility.
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About the author: Steven Davis is an over-cooked preachers kid, recovering social worker, musician, media producer, and writer.
The Cult of Church Worship
Do you worship your church leadership? Don’t think so? Here’s how to find out.
Does your church team photo look like this? I’ve seen these photos on church websites (minus the hugging) promoting the church leadership and I always wonder what are they promoting? I almost went to a church that had a leadership picture like this on their website (minus the hugging.) But I kept looking at that leadership picture. And don’t get me wrong, everyone was smiling, everyone’s makeup was spot on, they even had coordinated outfits. But what I didn’t see was any significant diversity, not age or race. And this church wasn’t in a non-diverse location. I’m sure there were plenty of non-twenty-early-thirties somethings around. But the leadership wasn’t made up of any of them. So again, I asked myself, what are they promoting? Good question.
When Lebron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010, the residents of Cleveland didn’t react well. There were riots over Lebron leaving the town and even a man set himself on fire with Lebron’s jersey on. After all, Lebron promised Cleveland a championship, but he didn’t deliver. So fans were obviously upset about him leaving and expressed their disappointment with anger and violence. The person Cleveland fans worshiped, ‘King James’, was leaving for another team.
And as members of the Christ church, we often can take that same mentality to the church meeting. We have our own Lebrons, Michael Jordans, Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith’s at church. That one person who may be the reason we go to that church meeting.
In one
accord, Mold.When a church cast the team leadership from one mold, that leader is asking for one type of person to come to that church.
If we are to reach all people, then we can’t as a church, target certain groups for inclusion in our church meeting … Jesus said, go out into all the world. And that may require having church leadership that comes from the world we live in, not just the suburbs.
While visiting a local church, my wife and I were chatting up some church folk in the hallway. I asked their children’s pastor about the program for kids. She began describing the fun kids had during children’s church. Then she told me that children’s church was for grades kindergarten through third grade. I asked about kids ages four and was told those kids are in the nursery to play. Then two ladies standing nearby started telling us how wonderful the pastor was, that they were just ‘glued’ to his messages every Sunday. The pastor speaks very well continued one church lady. I said, ‘thank you,’ smiled politely and walked away ruminating on a couple of take-a-ways; 1) kids under the age of kindergarten don’t really need the message of Jesus and 2) the biggest thing this church has going is a great pastor who has great messages. While my thoughts were mildly sarcastic and somewhat inconsiderate, they did have some truth to them. But is that really what that church believes? That young kids don’t matter and the greatest thing about the church is the pastor? I doubt it, but if I wasn’t an over-seasoned-preachers-kid and instead was a non-Christian, those would have been my take-a-ways. Instead, I get it. They really like their pastor who is very popular. And their children’s program is really great, even though outdated. Because after all, if we know anything from the well-established science regarding the psychological and sociological development of children; learning, especially behavioral, happens at a very young age. So of course, children under the age of kindergarten can learn about Jesus and should be taught in their way at an age-appropriate method. But not at that church.
The Cult of Worship
In Living Colour a rock band from the 1980s and 90s had a hit called, Cult of Personality. Which while on a grander philosophical plane, talked about how people follow others based on personality. Here are some of the lyrics.
“Look in my eyes, what do you see?
The cult of personality
I know your anger, I know your dreams
I’ve been everything you want to be
I’m the cult of personality
Like Mussolini and Kennedy
I’m the cult of personality
The cult of personality
The cult of personality”
Throughout human history, people have followed other people based on personality. In the church, we call it ‘charisma.’ Charisma is that ability or approach of a leader to connect emotionally with folk, to smile, to have a standout presence when in a room that is like a magnet for other people. So, when churches pick leaders, ministers, youth pastors, the personal trait of charisma is always important. Because it is important to connect with the church folk currently attending, but also connect with those who may visit. And in the grand scheme of church work, there’s nothing inherently non-biblical about having non-offensive church leaders or at least leaders that are non-offensive for the wrong reasons. The last thing the church body needs is a curt, abrasive, or intrusive personality. Or maybe it’s the first thing we need. Let’s examine scripture.
I like to start with Jesus and his approach because often in today’s church mainstream, Jesus has gotten a bad reputation. … The Jesus of scripture spoke the truth, got angry, was counter-cultural and lived a life of service ultimately dying on a cross in one of the most humiliating ways. And yet, it is that life that we are to use as a guide.
Let’s look at what Jesus said when asked about himself.
As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up and knelt before Him. “Good Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18“Why do you call Me good?” Jesus replied. “No one is good except God alone. Mark 10:17-18
Jesus points to his Father. If Jesus teaches us that God the Father is to be the focus of our attention, then why do we put it on others? When we go to church, do our leaders point to God as Jesus does, or is their charisma based on flair, hairstyle/color, the clothes they wear, etc. Do our church leaders reflect any or all attention to God?
Unfortunately, sometimes in today’s post-postmodern church, Jesus is portrayed as loving everyone, not offending anyone, and not representing the reason he came, which was to save man from sin. Why is that? In some churches, sin isn’t even mentioned. When is the last time your church leader spoke about the cross, sin, and forgiveness? If they do, be sure that someone, maybe even you or me, will get offended. At least that’s what some people call it. Biblically speaking, that offense is actually the Holy Spirit’s conviction or pointing out our sin telling us we need to change. That’s what Jesus does to us in the face of our sin, we get convicted spiritually because of our wrongdoing. That’s also what Jesus said while on earth. But today, if people get offended, they just leave the church. Like leaving a movie early because we don’t like the subject matter.
So if we can’t use personality as a draw for churchgoers, then what’s the solution to keep the church meeting popular? One solution is to take the focus off of God and put it on programs, great music, well-thought messages. And that requires church leaders to take the focus off God and put it on church leadership, have a popular leadership. Have lots of programs that rest on generating ‘likes’ if you will by leaders that are very popular. What did Jesus say about his mission? He came to divide, to separate, to cause people to be at odds with each other. That was his program. That goes against every happy-go-lucky-Jesus-loves and hugs-doesn’t offend post-postmodern church’s message on the planet. Our church meetings ought to a place of personal change, we shouldn’t be comfortable in our day to day lives. We should be challenged by church leaders at our church meeting to change. Church leaders should put the gospel first and not worry about losing personal popularity.
-‘That popular youth program is awesome! Our church band is the best in town, the music is so memorable, our pastor tells some amazing jokes, did you know our pastor has a Ph.D.?’- And so on it goes. But what we should hear is; ‘people’s lives are being changed because our church loves on hurting folk. Did you hear how many people in need we are helping this month? I’m better because my life is challenged and changed each week. Let me tell you about Christ, I hear about him every week at church. Our leaders are so busy taking groups out to love on the elderly.’-
Big difference.
Spiritual equality
21 But now, apart from the Law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, as attested by the Law and the Prophets. 22And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:21-24
We are all sinners. We are either still sinners and not following God, we are sinners saved by Grace and have turned from our sinful ways. But we are all sinners in need of saving, and as Paul points out, saving not by ourselves but through the grace of God. So why do we look up to those leaders in the church? Well, we’d like to think they’re perfect maybe. Or we hope they have an answer we are looking for. Or do we just like the way they look, sound, act. Whatever the reason we look up to them, they as leaders should be looking up to God in such a way that when we look at them, we see God. That comes from true humility and leaders always pointing to God for help and salvation in their messages, actions, methods, programs.
I often wonder about messages from pulpit that don’t directly explain how to reach to God for an answer. Back in the day, we call them altar calls. This is a special time after a sermon-message where everyone prays for help and those who need special prayer get a special prayer. Where did the altar call go? That’s probably another blog post all to itself, but suffice to say, if leaders who speak from the pulpit aren’t wrapping their messages up in a way for folk to have a connection with God, then what’s the point? If your church leader isn’t consistently and constantly pointing to God for everyone’s help, then the question arises, who is the focus? Who is the object for our help?
So the next time you see your church leader, remember, they are sinners just like everyone else. And they are either pointing you to God for help or pointing to themselves as the object for your affection.
But What about Billy Graham?
His personality and following, in the millions. Very true. And there have been countless patriarchs of the Way since Jesus that have had large followings. But about Billy Graham; his message followed one line of thought, salvation through Christ. His message always pointed to Christ, he always pointed to Christ. And God worked through the efforts of Billy Graham to bring millions to Christ. Billy Graham called for those to receive Christ at the end of his messages. So a large defacto following is not a symptom of a cult of personality or worship, it’s a large following. Today, Billy Graham has moved on from this life but his works are still here, his messages still watched, his following hasn’t fallen away, but kept moving on because Billy Graham followers, unlike Jim Jones’s followers, always knew it was about God and the message of Jesus through Salvation and the works of Billy Graham were ultimately the works of Christ.
So what is the Cult of Worship?
It’s easy to find with one mental exercise. Pick a leader in your church. If they were to leave y our church, would you go elsewhere? What about two leaders, what about the youth pastor? If they leave, will you stay? If your answer is ‘Yes’, then who is being worshiped? Throughout history, people have followed people. And the church is no different. When a pastor or other church leader leaves a physical church, some people love/worship him or her so much, they leave with him. It happens all the time. Certainly, there are good reasons people leave a church meeting group, heresy, God calling people elsewhere and so on. But what if God was actually the most important Person in all our churches. What if humility was the claim to fame for a church meeting leadership. What if people were so busy doing the work of Christ, that if a leader left, no one else did. Possible? A worthy goal and one that Jesus himself gave us. The disciples were sad when Jesus left, but he told them to go and continue working for God.
The Wrap
What is your/mine/a church focus all about? What is the draw for people to belong? The ‘pseudo-friends church team picture’ I saw at the church website left me out because I only saw a nondiverse twenties-early-thirties something team. I just kept thinking of the Friends image cast over and over. And good-intentioned people can do the wrong things for the right reasons. Like having a church leadership made up of one demographic can send the wrong message to anyone visiting or wanting to visit. In fact, there is nothing Biblically-based about it. Regarding diversity, Jesus chose his church leadership from a wide socio-economic base. And Jesus chose his company from even a wider range of demographics. So much that he was even socially maligned by the church for hanging out with the sinners of his day, something very unpopular in his day.
It’s unfortunate that we as human and Christians use our visual perception to choose where to go and not go to church, but that’s the way it is. We like this person, so we go there. We don’t like the way this person is dressed, so we don’t go to that church. Growing up, we had people leave our church meeting because the music minister’s wife wore too much makeup.
The Solution is to have the main focus not be the leaders themselves, but God’s works through that leadership. This is how we should live as well. Our trumpet in life should not be about ourselves, but Christ. Practice humility in the church that puts leaders on the back burner and the service, dependence, and worship to God at the forefront. This requires a radical refocusing of the ‘grand’ point of the church.
When the man focused on Jesus, Jesus pointed to his Father, why should we be so different.
Great video from John Christ
About the author:
Steven Davis is a long time well-seasoned-preachers kid, recovering social worker, musician, and media producer.
An Open Letter to Pastors, Music Pastors and Churches: Let Your Light Shine, Ok, Maybe Not that Light
An Open Letter to Pastors, Music Pastors, and Churches: Let Your Light Shine, Ok, Maybe Not that Light
The following is an article asking the question: “Is our church environment inviting to all?” If not, then why not? If not, then should it be?
Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all [a]who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. — Jesus
Putting my thoughts together, I immediately realized that the risk of sounding like an ‘Old Fogey’ is real. But my goal here is to present my personal experience, and passion for the lost and hurting and not a condemnation of evangelistic techniques. After all, the Great Commission is for everyone. And it is always easy to be critical, it’s much more difficult to be vulnerable to criticism.
Personal History: The Rumbling in the Pew
My favorites memories of attending church meetings are from my early years. We had the traditional Christmas plays, Easter services, Sunday School, and Children’s Church, and Revivals. The children’s church
was set up like a mini sanctuary with pews, a stage, and a podium. It was where I learned beloved songs like “Jesus Loves Me, ‘Father Abraham’ and so on. Our church was a type of family environment that after most weddings in the church, the church folk would be invited to the reception in the upstairs. I’d always make extra trips to the peanuts and those little square mints. My first friends were at this church. It was also the environment where I learned my first sign language because we had a member teach us. It was where I had my first ‘girlfriend’, at the age of nine even.
I grew up from a baby knowing only one Pastor, Brother Garner. And being the kind of kid that couldn’t always make it through the whole service, I would sometimes fall asleep on the wooden pew. And no, we didn’t have cushions, but I fell asleep just the same.
And one of the memories I have is the voice rumbling in the pew.
The rumbling I felt and heard was Pastor Garner’s voice. I still remember how the pew would vibrate from the sound of his voice. I consider him my Pastor for all time since he had so much compassion for others, the messages were truth and were in concert with powerful worship.
The worship we had was led by a husband and wife. We had a band with drums, horns, and of course a choir. God’s Spirit would often move in the service and even today, I’m reminded of how it shaped my first understanding of what a church is all about.
From age 10, I played drums in church. I still remember playing my single Ludwig snare drum in church. When my dad bought a Ludwig Blue Sparkle drumset for me to play in church. I was so happy. I wish I still had it. So fast forward several decades, I’m the son of a Pastor for over 35 years. I spent years playing drums in church, a couple of gospel groups. We traveled to many churches in the ’80s and ’90s. I experienced the powerful movement of God throughout those years while attending Camp Meeting, Youth Camp, and Home Coming services at so many churches. When God moved, there was music, there was preaching or teaching, and a call for people to change through repentance and seeking the Holy Spirit.
As a worship musician, I’ve always understood the power of worship in church. Playing in church worship was always one way for me to worship myself. I tell people all the time, when they ask me to play in church, that I’m not a technical drummer. (Truth being, I didn’t pay enough attention to my rudiments and fundamentals in band, which is one of my bigger regrets.) I just like to play and worship.’ I do everything possible to not become a hindrance or focus for anyone worshiping. I’d rather play behind a curtain than have someone watch me play during worship.
Warning: Here Comes Somewhat of a Tangent, a Proverbial Squirrel even.
I was a teenager when churches came out against “Christian Rock.” I remember being condemned for my choice of music which included Christian Rock Bands; Bride, Stryper, Leviticus, Guardian to name a few. There was this really odd response from many in the church that sought to refute and refuse music that looked different with these Gospel messengers that wore spandex and even wigs, and music that was very loud and mostly ostracized from mainstream churches. So typically that music was limited to concert venues, specific events that you bought tickets for. There was a concerted effort to segregate Christian Rock music from the established American church. But that’s another story altogether. After all, it was called “The Devil’s Music.” Geoff Moore even addresses it in his song, “Why Should the Devil Have all the Good Music.”
During this time, I don’t think myself or anyone who liked Christian Rock music wanted that music in church, we just knew Christian Rock music appealed to a certain type of Christian and we wanted to listen to it because we knew it spoke to us. I still love hymns more than anything, but as a drummer, I could appreciate Christian Rock as long as the message was there. Every album I bought, I always opened up the cover and read the words. After all, the message is the most important factor when listening to someone else speak to your soul.
So from my view, the impact today has been just the opposite. When churches ran youth out of their churches saying, – ‘if you’re going to listen to that music, we don’t want you here,’ the impact today is seen in the loss of that generation in the church today. I was even told I would never amount to anything if I kept going like I was in my teen years. And that pastor was right. Unfortunately, that’s the statement that sticks in my head.
End Tangent and the Proverbial Squirrel.
Marketing Vs. Ministry
Going back to what Jesus said about ‘Come to me all who are weary’, the Seeker Church Movement has been well documented over the years. It was/is a movement that sought to create a culturally relevant and comfortable church meeting experience that was inviting without scaring people off. But inviting to whom?
There has definitely been a move over the years to implement the tools of the corporate world into marketing church plants. Today, we have in-house free or pay-for coffee shops, free-gifts and give-a-ways, meals after church, and you can even have a beer after church. And the decor resembles your local coffee shop or brewpub. These are all efforts to make the church experience more inviting to those who may find attending a church frightening or a turnoff. There’s an entire science behind church planting with strategies on how you can attract the right people to your church. But at what cost?
John MacArthur with Grace Community Church puts it this way; “And so, the church in those last ten or fifteen years has basically been in many ways co-opted or commandeered by the entrepreneurs. And the guys who can really pull it off, the guys who are the clever guys, the glib guys, the smooth communicators, the guys who are really savvy to the marketing strategy, the guys who have a lot of money at their feet who can access a lot of money and pull this off are becoming the success models for the church. And now they’re getting all the kudos, they’re selling books by the millions, they’re creating massive websites and sucking up all kinds of other pastors and churches into the vortex of these entrepreneurial kind of culturally driven quasi churches. It isn’t that everything they say is wrong. It isn’t that everything they do is wrong. It is that the church is being run by market savvy entrepreneurs. That in itself has no connection to Scripture.”
John MacArthur’s statement is pretty strong. But it does beg the question; are we marketing first and messaging second? I once sat in a two and half hour church planning meeting to go over what type of free giveaways were going to be handed out to guests throughout the year. Relaying the vision and purpose for the same meeting was around three minutes or so.
Obviously, there needs to be an organized effort to make sure a church plant, meeting, and events are not chaos. So having a proper method in ‘running’ a church organization is important. The last thing someone experiencing a church meeting about Jesus needs to see is, a messy church environment such as staff not knowing what they are doing.
But when does culture comfort become a problem?
I once attended a church that handed out a survey asking the congregation what they wanted to hear from the pastor throughout the year. That’s a good way to gauge the needs of a congregation, but I really didn’t see any choices resembling the cannons of Christianity such as Hell, Heaven, Sin, and/or Holy Spirit. A lot of the list was cultural surface emotional issues. In the grand scheme of church leadership, it’s probably a good tool to statistically gauge needs in the church. But it does lead me to imagine Moses going up on Mount Sanai and giving God a list of talking points from the Children of Israel.
Here’s a question. What is the right method to reach people? Is it Message or Marketing? Is our goal to use a physical church environment to attract people with methods that are culturally comfortable and then ‘sucker punch’ them with a message about Jesus? Like Christian rock concerts that attract rockers with music and surprise them with a Jesus message at the end. Do we adopt methods from the Timeshare people who give us a 99.95 three day weekend at a resort only after trying to lock us into a condo following an exhausting 2.5-hour meeting? Is Jesus the message and such a draw in our lives that people want to come and see what’s going on at the Sunday meeting? Is the environment used in the physical church meeting inviting to everyone? Do we look forward to the church environment or the transforming message of Jesus? When our lives break down on Tuesday, do we have to wait till Sunday to feel God’s Spirit? Did the Apostle Paul in prison need lights, smoke, and skinny jeans for God’s power to descend and rock the walls? Do we mentally associate God with the church environment on Sunday? When people ask us about our faith, do we talk about the Sunday service, or do we share our story and how Jesus has transformed our lives? Could the thousands of dollars spent on decor be better spent reaching out to someone who is not our kind of church people? Do people come and go from church services without being noticed because they don’t fit the churches environment? Does the ‘Samaritan Woman’ leave our church meetings because she doesn’t fit into the super savvy culture?
The Samaritan woman is the perfect example of the message based on the person of Jesus spawning marketing when in John 4:39 “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41And because of his words many more became believers.” His words.
Jesus first broke cultural norms when he spoke to the Samaritan woman which was in itself a ‘no no’ in that day. I suppose Jesus could have dressed like a Samaritan and fit in better, but he met the Samaritan woman where she was and that day, she became part of the church. He didn’t try to conform her to His ‘culture’ instead He pointed to the purpose of God the father. Despite her difference.
Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all [a]who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus said he came for those in need and not the well. So as a church, what should be our meeting environment look like when anyone walks through the door? Should it be one where everyone feels welcomed, comforted, loved? Jesus gives us the best example. His ministry was open and inviting to all, He was irrespective of age, gender, and targeted groups. He stood on a hill and proclaimed the truth to anyone who would listen. Not everyone accepted Jesus either. But He was on His Father’s mission and Jesus didn’t conform to the world’s culture just to get an audience.
Would Jesus wear Louis Vuitton glasses and distressed GAP jeans if He started a church in America today? We only need to look at His life for an answer. Jesus’ purpose was to have His life point to God the Father. So I suspect his clothing as it were, would point people past Himself to God the father and not himself.
Is the ‘Modern Concert Church’ approach a filter for including some folks and excluding others?
Question: Are the Lights, Skinny Jeans, Smoke, Fog, a crutch for worship? Do they create an environment that is faux emotionalism first, and hopefully worship second? What if the poor, non-hip-savvy single mother walks in? Where does she fit in with here second-hand clothing?
The Poison concert I went to in 1989 was great. I still remember the drum solo that lifted Ricky Rockett up in the air as he played upside down, laser lights, the smoke, everywhere. Smoke which wasn’t just band generated. There was plenty of secondary drug smoke in the place which no doubt added to the concert experience.
Matthew 28: 16 But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 [e]Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you [f]always, even to the end of the age.”
Question: Does the church meeting experience or environment welcome everyone? Are we looking for anyone as a disciple, or just those that fit the church meeting culture?
The following is the catalyst for this writing.
A year ago, I visited a friend’s church, on the stage was a huge wall of lightbulbs in a square formation that changed in color. The wall of lights (similar to a lightbright) took up a large part of the stage behind the band. A few minutes after the service began, my head began to hurt and I ended up sitting down with my head in my hands. Following the service, I went to the front church entrance where there was daylight coming through the windows to get relief for my head. A church member asked me how I enjoyed the service. My head was hurting so much, and without really thinking my response through, I responded, “my head was hurting from the lights on the stage.” Her response was that sometimes people have to put in earplugs because of the music volume in the service and implied that the service isn’t for everyone. That stuck in my head. Your church service isn’t for everyone? (insert old fogey hints)
The church we were going to for a while decided to put a bank of ‘lightbright’ bulbs left and right to the middle projection screen used for worship. The challenge looking at the stage was that the collective lumens from the left and right walls of ‘lightbright’ bulbs were brighter than the reflective lumens coming off the projection screen. Lumens are the measurement of light. The walls of light were actually brighter than the projection screen. While it looked artistic, technically speaking, it was a poor design. So my eyes focused on the ‘lightbrights’ and competed with the projection screen.
While looking for a church to land and invest in, we visited three ‘contemporary’ churches in our area. Each had somewhat of the same contemporary cultural comfort type feel. Dark or dimming light designs where the lights would go up or down depending on what was going on. And each had a variety of LED lights shining in the darkness pointing at the audience. There were also typical flavors such as contemporary clothing, music was current top 40 you’d hear on KLove and so on. While there were some differences, the approach to worship was pretty much the same, dark concert feel with various lighting themes.
During each church visit, we encountered unbalanced LED lights specifically that were pointed at the congregation, or back at the audience. This is the same effect of pointing an LED flashlight at someone in the dark. With each visit, my headaches returned. One church turned the ambient lights up which balanced out the LED’s and this was better, but then they turned the ambient lights back down after the offering. For one service, I spent half the service with my eyes closed.
Frustrated and looking for answers to my dilemma, I started researching. I knew the common denominator was the audience-directed LEDs in the dark. To my surprise, I learned I have an issue similar to ‘photophobia.’ And just like you reading this, I did not know it was a thing. But it is real and affects many people. Webmd defines it as the following: Photophobia literally means “fear of light.” If you have photophobia, you’re not actually afraid of light, but you are very sensitive to it. The sun or bright indoor light can be uncomfortable, even painful.
For me, my issue is worse with unbalanced-flashlight in the dark type displays of LED lighting pointed at me.
Arnold J. Wilkins Professor of Psychology, University of Essex puts it this way.” Most lighting is electric and powered by an alternating current supply, which makes the bulbs continually dim and then brightens again at a very fast rate. Unlike filament lamps and to a lesser extent fluorescent lamps, LEDs don’t just dim but effectively turn on and off completely (unless the current is maintained in some way).” So the refresh or constant flash of light from an LED is harsher on vision because the light completely goes out and back on, and off and on.
It was very frustrating trying to visit a church when you have to keep your eyes closed for most of the time. We found a great church that had a nice children’s program, good messages but unfortunately, I couldn’t go there because of the LED’s pointed back at me in the dark. And I hesitated to even bring it up to the churches I visited. But my frustration was real and I wanted to find a church that spoke the truth and could invest in.
So despite my reservations, I mentioned it to one church leader and said, ‘we were grateful for the mission of their church but there are a couple of LED lights that cause significant discomfort during the service.’ (In the back of my mind was my experience as a preacher’s kid recalling church fights over carpet color, so I was definitely bracing myself for the response.) I know full well how church folk get attached to things in the church. Back in the day, we called the ‘sacred cows’ and entire churches have split over something as simple as decor. Needless to say, the response I received was disheartening. I immediately related myself to that one lost sheep. But this time in the story, it was ok to have that sheep not be part of the church. Personally, if something as insignificant as a decoration caused harm to someone visiting my church, I would put it on eBay the next day. (But enough self-loathing, that is not the purpose of this article)
If you read the manual on LED lights such as those used by DJ’s and churches, you’ll often see the warning, “Avoid direct eye exposure to the light source while it is one.” or “Avoid direct eye contact to the light when in operation”.
If you don’t see the warning, the manufacturer isn’t being responsible regarding the risk of direct LED exposure to people’s eyesight. So why point them at people in the church? Not sure other than it’s popular and hits the dopamine in the right place.
LED lighting industry-wide is typically used to UP light a wall or other object like a ceiling. Technically speaking, pointing them at a crowd diminishes their effectiveness since the idea is to shine the LED light onto an object and change the color of an object.
But the risks to people’s vision is real and should be considered as a warning when using LEDs in this way.
These visits were the catalyst for this Open Letter.
So I began to question my beliefs about church meetings. Is our goal for the physical church visit to be inviting to all? Does our church environment filter out some folk and include others? Is that Biblical? Do we as a church take our lead from corporate America and target certain groups for inclusion and others for exclusion? Do we need to dress fly like G.Q. Magazine. Does a church meeting need to be culturally comfortable? Is our message of Jesus what attracts people to a gathering, or is it multicolored smoke? Do we take from Paul that worship in jail can ‘attract’ someone to salvation or do we need wood textures on our church building walls?
These are good questions.
About the Author: Steven Davis is a preacher’s kid for over thirty years, Bible school drop out, musician and media producer with over a decade of video, photography and lighting experience.
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Sources and further reading
Arnold J. Wilkins Professor of Psychology, University of Essex